Monday, October 20, 2014

I woke up in a panic. I’ve had
nightmares before but this one was different. You see no one was
chasing me, I wasn’t falling from a high place and I wasn’t
behind the wheel seeing headlights. I had just knocked off a bluegill
at the bottom of the hole that I suspected was an honest two pounds.
In a world where most anglers rarely find a one pound bluegill, this
was a nightmare of epic proportions. Waking up safe and sound on top
of the covers and coming to the realization that I had never hooked
this fish was a huge relief. Fish of this caliber, while extremely
rare, do exist beyond my unusual dreams. Legendary bluegill hunter,
Bruce Condello, and his group of bluegill aficionado friends, had
shirts made of dogs riding bicycles because honest three pound
bluegills are about as common. Bruce specifically has five bluegills
to his credit that went an honest three pounds in his home state of
Nebraska. If we were to start a fantasy bluegill fishing league,
another of my top draft picks would have to be Clayton Davis of North
Dakota. Davis recently captured a 12” two pound specimen late ice
this past winter and has many other large fish to his credit. While
scarfing down a gas station burrito on the way home from chasing
bluegills all day may have led me to strange dreams of massive pie
plates, I wanted more. I wanted to know what it really takes to land
a personal best this ice season. How do these anglers select lakes
that have the capabilities to produce this caliber of bluegill? Does
it relate to the genetics of the fish or is it simply a matter of
finding over fed obese populations? What voodoo mind tricks are
involved in finding dogs riding bicycles?

North Dakota angler, Clayton Davis,
has really made a name for himself the past few seasons with his
social media bluegill pictures. Living in an area where walleyes and
perch reign as king, he has found populations of giant untapped
bluegills. Davis has a system of finding lakes that have trophy
potential and it starts with looking into state stocking reports. He
explained to me that you not only need to check available data on
bluegill populations but also try to locate lakes with large pike.
Lakes that boast populations of large pike typically have a balanced
population of bluegills. Balanced populations have the potential to
grow large fish versus lakes that have over abundant populations of
fish that will end up stunted. Lakes will only support so many inches
of fish so these large predators are needed to keep the population in
check and the size good.

After selecting lakes with high caliber
potential, Davis begins his search. He notes that pencil reeds are
paramount when searching out a new lake and big bluegills are usually
in close proximity. He will start shallow and work his way through
the mid depth weed flats out into the basin. During late ice, which
he considers the best time to chase pie plates, he often finds giants
in as shallow as three feet of water. Using the weed fishing mode on
his Vexilar FLX-28 allows Davis to see his jig and approaching fish
in this heavy cover. He explains that the weed mode drowns out
clutter from the weeds and has been instrumental in his success. When
he begins to find medium sized fish, he will often drill a large
concentration of holes to circle that immediate area. This allows him
to dissect the weed beds and find the best vantage points. Places for
fish to ambush prey, while also providing cover from large pike, are
going to hold the largest gills. He described that a sort of pecking
order exists in the world of bluegills and big fish will take these
prime locations and push smaller fish out into the fringe areas.

The founding father of modern ice
fishing, Mr. Dave Genz, has been chasing high caliber bluegills since
childhood. He likes to look for big bluegills in lakes that will
sometimes experience a partial winter kill. Yes, you read that
correct. This is a theory that has worked well for Genz over the
years. It goes back to a lake only being able to support so many
inches of fish. A partial winter kill will thin the lake enough for
the remaining fish to thrive and grow large. In order for this to
happen at least part of the lake has to be shallow limiting oxygen
after the weeds die off mid-winter. This is one of the few events
that can reverse the effects of lakes that house over abundant
stunted populations.

Pursuing pie plate sized bluegills is
my passion. I have spent countless hours milling over maps and lake
data looking for the next lake that may produce a fish over 11”. I
have found a few factors that I like to look for when trying new
waters. The first would be current. Lakes that are connected by
rivers and have some current running through them for whatever reason
are always top producers. While I have not completely figured out the
correlation, give this trick a try and I promise you won’t be
disappointed. The second thing I like to look for is the presence of
shrimp. Amphipods or shrimp are high calorie meals for bluegills and
can bulk up fish faster than other invertebrates. If obese gills are
on the docket this winter, find the lakes with shrimp and current.

The other piece of the puzzle is
genetics. Male bluegills pass on genetics to their offspring. Just as
my children will never be as tall as Shaqueille O’Neil’s
children, 7” male gills do not have the proper genetics to produce
11” bulls. Bruce Condello, owner of the website bigbluegill.com,
has his own strain of bluegill called Condello gills. He has created
this strain on a private pond that he manages by netting the pond
every year in October. By taking out all bluegills except the largest
1/10 of 1 %, he has created a sort of super strain that can grow to
10” in sixteen months. One thing this tells us is that when anglers
sort to keep the largest bluegills as table fare, we are genetically
making our bluegill populations smaller. It is important that the
bluegill aficionado recognizes this and opts to release big bulls and
instead harvest more abundant smaller fish.

When hunting down
giant Nebraska bluegills on public water, Bruce likes to look for
lakes that house large concentrations of juvenile largemouth bass. It
goes back to the theory of lakes only being able to support so many
inches of fish. According to Condello, largemouth bass in the 11”
range are eating machines and keep populations balanced. This allows
remaining bluegills enough food to pack on pounds. He also looks for
lakes that have, what he describes as, high water quality. Lakes that
have submergent vegetation, clear water and low nutrient loads are
his top choices. Clear lakes have better sunlight penetration for
weed growth. These lakes with rooted vegetation produce oxygen from
the bottom up so fish don’t get stressed and can continue to feed
even throughout difficult periods of the year. Lakes that are highly
nutrient laden lack the sunlight penetration to grow deep rooted
vegetation so oxygen comes from algae and can dip to low levels. He
also noted the importance of appropriate sized invertebrates for the
fish to feed on in the early stages. If another species strips out
the 1 mm sized invertebrates, young bluegills must become risk
takers, leaving the protection of the weeds in search of an open
water food source. This often leads to them being eaten by bass. He
believes that having enough of the correct sized invertebrates is
more important than the amount of available spawning habitat in a
particular lake. Avoiding lakes with small stunted populations is
paramount. Lakes with an overabundance of weeds will foster small
fish and stunted populations. Ideal waters are comprised of less than
10% weeds. Heavily weeded lakes will protect more bluegills from
predation than the food source can support and the population will
stunt. Condello’s best advice for an angler looking to ice a
personal best this winter is to first, find lakes that have big
bluegills and second, sort through a lot of fish. Visualize the items
that a large bluegill may eat that a medium sized bluegill cannot.
Big bluegills have bigger mouths than their medium sized counter
parts so bigger baits are often necessary. Pay attention to the depth
that the bigger fish are using. Don’t be afraid to leave medium
sized fish to search out giants.

The ice season is finally upon us and
with it brings an opportunity to spend time with friends and family
on the hard water again. Whether you or I ice a personal best or not
this season, the charm is what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual
series of occasions for hope (John Buchan). I guess I just love
chasing dogs riding bicycles.